As Harry Likes It
by Fallen Autumn
Summary: Harry's in his fifth year at Hogwarts and life seems too brutal to handle. Thank God he has friends who care, but perhaps too much...will his dreams become his nightmares? Or worse, his reality. Read, review, and find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note**: _This story takes place in Harry's fifth year, with several variations (of course, otherwise it wouldn't be such an interesting fanfic)! I just didn't want to write a story without the Weasley twins or Dumbledore (tear). . . It will become more interesting in later chapters, but please let the story develop before you give up on it! Harry becomes entangled in a love triangle, which has potential to become a love pentagon. There's possible HP/DM, HP/RW, and HP/GW slash (only time will tell). Please review if you feel so inclined!_

**As Harry Likes**

A roar of laughter could be heard from behind a painting of a fat lady in the Hogwarts castle. If anyone were listening very closely, they could make out the voices of many Gryffindor students. Although it wasn't exactly a hidden fact that the Gryffindor tower was behind the painting of the fat lady (at least after the incident in Harry Potter's third year).

In Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, the Gryffindor students were partying hardily in their common room. They were celebrating another quidditch match victory, well on their way to winning the House Cup.

Harry Potter had been hoisted onto the shoulders of two rather large seventh years who were cheering raucously. His face cracked into a wide grin and the smile spread to his forest green eyes.

"Harry, catch!" Ron Weasley shouted as he threw a bottle of butter beer up to him.

He caught it with ease and patted one of the boys carrying him, "Hey, I think it's okay to let me down now."

"Nice save at the end Harry, you were great!" Colin Creevey had managed to croak out before he was unceremoniously shoved aside.

"Thanks Colin." Harry looked down at his feet, feeling slightly embarrassed by the attention. This had been the first quidditch match he could participate in months, but the win had brought many Gryffindors back to his side. So many had tried to forget his existence because they believed the many accusations of the _Daily Prophet_. No one wanted to associate with a liar, one who might even be siding with Voldemort (which, of course, was ridiculous).

Many people were now coming up to pat Harry on the back, give him a high five, or simply give him the thumbs up.

He wasn't sure he wanted attention and wished he could slink away to the boys dormitory and into his lovely, warm bed.

Neville, who was too uncomfortable to fight his way through the crowd, waved to Harry from the fireplace. Neville stifled a yawn and turned to go up the stairs.

Harry was instantly envious, Neville could easily sneak away, but Harry was going to be stuck in the common room for hours to come.

Fred and George Weasley came up swiftly behind Harry, pulling him away from the crowd for a moment.

"Excellent playing today Harry, glad to see the rest of the Gryffindors have come around and removed the stick up their arses." Fred whispered in Harry's ear.

"Well I couldn't have gotten far if it weren't for the two of you blocking bludgers from flying at my face." Harry grimaced.

It was lucky that any of them were playing game now. Professor Umbridge had threatened to take their brooms away, and keep them off the field. Thankfully, many of the other professors fought her decision and they were allowed to fly.

"We wanted to let you know our progress, on. . . things" George grinned mischievously.

"Of course." Harry let out a sigh of relief, he had been so caught up in the negative floating around that he forgot there were actually some people doing something enjoyable. "I can't wait until you start up your shop, I hope it's soon."

"Sooner than you think. We actually have a few products that you might have interest in." Harry looked up quizzically when they said this. "No need to worry, we've tested them out, we simply thought they might prove helpful to you, and we owe you so much."

Harry grimaced, "Now I gave you those winnings because you needed it, don't go on thinking that you owe me anything because of it."

"Fine then," Fred continued in frustration, "think of it as an early birthday present, and no, you can't refuse."

George shoved a brown paper package into Harry's arms before scurrying off. Harry looked down at the seemingly harmless package, who knew what interesting things it would hold?

He tucked the package into the cushions of a nearby chair and hurried back to the large group of people. He hoped he could put on the charade of happiness without falling asleep before everyone went off to bed.

Dean and Seamus smiled towards Harry, holding up their bottles of butter beer before delving back into a conversation with Ginny. Harry smiled weakly and looked away, Dean clearly liked her and for mysterious reasons it made him furious.

A third year Harry didn't recognize had come up to him and attempted to hold a conversation. Harry tried to look interested as he glanced around the room to see what others were up to. Everyone looked so happy, drinking merrily and laughing loudly. It would have been nice if Harry meant it went he acted in the same manner.

Harry chatted up other people in the room, but remained in a fog. Throughout the night the only thing he really remembered was being able to speak with Ron before being pulled away by a group of fourth year girls.

At about three in the morning most of the common room had finally cleared out, and Harry sighed with relief.

__

Finally, maybe now I can get some sleep.

He thought again desperately of his bed. Hermione scurried over, _she's still awake? _At least there wouldn't be other people trying to pull him away and he might actually get a chance to talk to someone he wanted to.

"Hey Harry, you look really tired. I think you should head to bed, you'll need the sleep for the potions quiz tomorrow!"

Harry groaned, "yeah, thanks Hermione. I don't think it would matter how much sleep I had, I'm not going to do well on that potions test."

Hermione smiled sympathetically, "well I'll help you study some at breakfast, don't fret over it too much. 'Night Harry!"

Harry watched as Hermione went up to the girl's dormitory and thought now would be an okay time to catch a few winks himself. Although, in the past weeks he'd hardly gotten any sleep. Nightmares had kept him awake, no matter what he tried he woke up in a cold sweat, more tired than he was when he tried to sleep in the first place.

Harry had made it onto the first step when he remembered the package Fred and George had given him. He retraced his steps back to the chair and pulled it out from beneath the cushions. Tucking it discreetly into his robes, it felt heavier than he thought it would.

Trudging up the stairs at last to get some sleep, his eyelids drooped, and Harry was wondering if he would even make it up the stairs before he simply keeled over.

All of the other boys in the room were already asleep (several were snoring) so Harry didn't even bother to change his clothes. He threw himself down on the bed and hoped sleep would wash over him as much as he wanted it to.

But it wasn't going to be that easy. As exhausted as Harry was, he couldn't fall asleep, it was so. . . frustrating!

He lay on his back, his side, then he tried laying on his stomach. Even counting dragons as they flew over an abyss didn't seem to send Harry off into dreamland.

He gave up for the time being and reached over the edge of his bed for the brown package. He had let it fall to the floor as he hoped for sleep. _I suppose now is as good a time a ever to see what they've given me._

With caution to remain quiet and not wake any of the others (who seemed so pleasantly enjoying slumber) Harry tore open the paper, dumping the contents onto his bed.

It was hard to judge what some things were in the dark and he had to hold some of them close to his face to read miniscule labels. There was a vial of a general healing potion, "made for minor cuts, bruises, and mild curses." Interested, Harry looked for a list of ingredients, _mixed with phoenix tears, very clever._

Another small bottle interested him, and as he read the small label he smiled brightly. Unscrewing the cap in haste, Harry chugged almost the entire contents before letting it drop to the floor. He breathed deeply and fell back onto his pillow. A broad smile still filled his face as his breathing became very slow and even, finally falling to sleep.

A bit of sunlight just peaking in through the windows glinted off of the bottle. _Dreamscapes_, it read_, a sip of this and you'll be off in dreamland before you know it, dreaming the most fantastical things you can think of. So enjoy a sip and lean back for a night of comfortable slumber._

It seemed like just the thing Harry was looking for, he really needed sleep and Fred and George must have been paying attention to that. Unfortunately, in Harry's hurry, he had ignored the warning under the bottle's description. _Please drink with caution, only one sip is needed. More at any one time could have drastic side effects._

Poor Harry.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Yes I know, this is not following along with Harry's fifth year (or sixth), and don't count on it. In fact, since he so kindly fell asleep in the middle of his fifth year, none of that has happened. Oh, I'm quite in my right to do this, remember, he's dreaming, dreams are odd, in fact, it might be more fitting if he was a flying monkey who grew magic pineapple in Antarctica. Hope you enjoy without the fly mokeys, R&R -_

Chapter Two

Sleep enveloped Harry's mind as soon as his eyes closed and he didn't care if he ended up sleeping through the potion's test (sleep seemed far more important).

As what happens when most people sleep, Harry began to dream. But in quite a bizarre manner.

Harry was walking down a long corridor of Hogwarts, very late at night, and not sure where he was headed. He knew he was in a dream this time and yet the surroundings felt very. . . alive.

_Why am I wandering the halls late at night? Did I have some purpose? _Harry began to worry slightly, hoping this wouldn't develop into one of his nightmares. He would be ready to yank himself awake if it was, he could still clearly feel his body lying in his bed.

Before he had more time to question himself his feet had stopped moving forward. He was standing in front of the gargoyle that led into the Headmaster's office.

_This is silly, I don't know why I'm here and I certainly don't know the password! _Harry laughed to himself, at least this dream didn't seem like it would become a nightmare.

Harry was about to turn around and head back to Gryffindor tower his lips acted of their own accord, "a-acid pops!"

He was even more stunned to find the gargoyle jump aside, _looks like I'm going to see the Headmaster. _And with that, he hurried up the stairs to knock on the door.

Dumbledore was waiting just beyond the door, and when he let Harry in he closed it swiftly behind him. He held his wand over the lock and Harry could swear he saw the doorknob glow and lock into place.

"Now then, quickly Harry, we haven't got much time to work this out." Dumbledore said, ushering Harry into a chair across from his desk.

"I'm sorry Professor, what's going on?"

"We need to hide you of course! Clearly you can't go back to your friends and claim you're alive, now can you?"

"What!? I didn't die I'm right here!" Harry blustered.

"Right, well no need to delve into discussion on that, at least not now Harry. We need to discuss what to do to hide you. Well, in this case, disguise you."

Harry shook his head, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to understand what was going on at the moment.

Best just to go along with it. Harry looked up at Dumbledore and nodded.

"Fantastic! We need to keep up the illusion you have died, but still need to keep you in Hogwarts where it's safe. With the new year starting in a matter of days --

"Hang on, new year?" _This is getting crazy, now I've died and moved forward in time, great dream I'm having here, let's just keep it going._

"Harry, I'll ask that you don't interrupt, there's so much to discuss."

Dumbledore smiled, before continuing. "I know you would be starting your sixth year, but to keep people from guessing, you need to be the furthest from yourself as possible. I'll still sort you into Gryffindor, but we'll have to change your age, gender, appearance, and of course voice."

Harry's eyebrows shot far up into his hairline. _My gender!? That's insane, I can't go prancing around the castle like a girl all day._

"All of these things are quite necessary, Harry, so just bare through it and things will turn out all right in the end."

"Um, sir, I'm not sure I can handle this. Are you sure I can--"

"Harry, if you please, there are a few more things. I hope they will clarify." He waited patiently for Harry to sit back down, for he had jumped from his seat and was leaning over his desk.

The news was hitting him much harder than Dumbledore thought it would.

"Your name, last name I should say, will be Pearwood. There is in fact a young muggle girl of fifteen living in Britain who I've gathered some basic information from so you may, get more into character, if you will. For holidays, you'll stay here, but if people ever question and go looking, they will in fact find a Miss Pearwood with her family, living in Britain. I will obviously have to adjust you appearance to reflect hers. However, I am allowing you to come up with your first name, seeing as you may be living with it for quite some time. Please refrain from choosing something along the lines of Lily, or closely related to your parents." Dumbledore paused, looking expectantly towards Harry.

"I need to. . . choose a girl's name?"

"Quite right, and sooner rather than later."

"Um, I know, why don't I go by Jilly? It's my parents names together!" Harry thought this was brilliant, _nobody would guess this!_

"Well, I suppose, if I may tweak it a bit. I think we can make a name like Jillian work for you Harry."

Harry sat back in his chair and frowned. _It's my dream, my person, why don't I get to keep my name, stupid magic. Jilly's better than stupid Jillian, it's so ugly! _He thought, still keeping his gaze away from the Headmaster._ Wait, why am I worrying over a name? I believe the point of all of this was to keep away from Lord Voldemort!_

Dumbledore waited patiently yet again for Harry to pay attention and stop his pouting. Time truly was of the essence at the moment.

"Fine, professor. What else should I know about all of this?" Harry asked, a sense of anger growling deeply in his throat as he spoke.

"Well, to draw less attention, you will not attend the start of term feast. You will be paired with Ginny Weasley who will act as your guide around Hogwarts. And please do act surprised about some things, Miss Weasley is quick-witted, she would surely catch on."

Dumbledore reached into the depths of his robes and removed two small vials. One contained an opaque, glowing liquid, and the other looked as if something had congealed horribly inside it. He handed the more revolting bottle to Harry.

"Drink up Harry!"

"You want me to, drink this stuff!" Harry had refused to touch it and tried to pull as far away from the vial as possible without leaving his chair.

"It works much like polyjuice potion, but it will last 3 months. Please just drink the potion Harry."

Harry grimaced and carefully removed the cap to it. A foul stench of rotten cabbage and old socks reached his nostrils. He tried very hard not to breathe as he brought the bottle to his lips. He took the potion in a large gulp before he could think twice, wincing at what he hoped would not believe was unbearable pain.

_I certainly am making a habit of taking potions, aren't I?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: **_I know, I've taken my dandy own time putting up a new chapter, but I've been debating what would be the most interesting thing to do next. And if I haven't succeeded then it appears all is lost. Anyway, if you happen to actually be reading this note (and if you are I shall love you forever, well relatively speaking. let's just say a really long time), then I seemed not to have mentioned that this story it twistedly based on Shakepeare's "As You Like It." I'll try harder to get more chapters up sooner, hope you enjoy and remember how much I love to hear your opinion! Good or bad, I'm serious, review at the end!! -_

**As Harry Likes It**

**Chapter 3**

Things had become very dark and quiet for Harry. He could vividly remember the taste of that potion and winced. But aside from that, he could feel his fingertips stretch out and touch his bed linens.

He sighed deeply. The dream had finally ended and he was back in his bed, with his own pillows, curtains, clothes, and everything else that belonged to him.

_Thank god I'm awake now. I'm not sure if I could handle being a girl, even in a dream._

Harry's body still felt tense, like he had been pressed in on all sides and yet he could still breathe comfortably. He could hardly care at the moment how his body felt, even with such an odd dream he felt entirely refreshed. As if he had been sleeping for days and actually sleeping this time.

He let his eyes flutter open and immediately shut them again. It still seemed dark outside, there was no need to wake up earlier than necessary. He rolled over onto his side and tried to sink back to sleep, even if only for a little while.

Try as he might, he could not sink back into peaceful dreamland. He could hear faint voices speaking in the background, and he frowned deeply.

_Stupid roommates, why can't they just keep their mouths shut! Some people are trying to sleep here._

Harry grumbled and pulled his pillow up over his face, and waited for those voices to die down. After fifteen minutes, it seemed either everyone had gone back to sleep or had left the room. Unfortunately, Harry was no closer to sleep than when he had first jolted back to reality. There would be no more sleeping today anyways.

He didn't realize anything was wrong until he sat up and had to push his long locks out of his eyes. He blinked furiously as his hair would stay put up on his head. It was a tangled mess, practically choking him by filling up the space by his eyes, nose, and mouth.

_I don't remember my hair ever causing this much of a problem, _he thought.

As light filtered in between the drapes around Harry's bed, he gasped in confusion. The long, now clearly curly hair, that had been in his face was not the jet black of his father's. He pulled a lock closer to his eyes to make sure he knew what he was looking at.

Yes. His hair was quite obviously a shocking shade of blonde.

His breathing quicken and he started to sweat. He ripped open his curtains and dashed to the closest mirror he could.

He stood before it with his eyes firmly shut. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see the image that would be staring up at him when he opened his eyes. _You can do this Harry, sooner or later you need to look. Just do it and get it over with._

He opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn't. He cried out in pain as he looked at what was now his reflection. He stared at a shorter, very petite girl, with long blonde curls. Tears were streaming down her pale, freckled cheeks, and more were on their way to burst forth from her deep grey eyes.

Harry looked down at his now very girlish hands. His fingers were thing and tapered, with long and clean nails appearing at the end of each delicate finger.

He let out a deep growl and dug his long fingernails deep into his forearm. _I. Am. Still. Dreaming. I am NOT a girl._ He was trying so desperately to convince himself that he had only become a girl in his dreams and there was no possible way he could be awake. But as blood started to seep from his shirt where he had been clenching, he winced in pain.

He was definitely awake, and no longer Harry Potter.

* * *

His knees gave way beneath him and he fell to the floor, screaming in agony. He let heaving sobs continue to flow, and covered his eyes to hide that image of some girl that was clearly not Harry.

He was so deeply immersed in his, tantrum, if you will, that he didn't notice another soul in the room. A hand reached out and touched his shoulder gently.

"Jill? Jillian, are you alright." Ginny Weasley was kneeling beside him and was speaking barely above a whisper. Genuine worry had filled her face as she waited for Harry to reply.

Harry whimpered, _I really am Jillian. It's not just a dream anymore, I've been trapped as a girl, and no one knows._ He wiped what tears he could from the girly face and looked up at Ginny, hoping she couldn't see right through Jill into Harry.

"Jill, if you're sick or something I could take you down to the hospital wing right now." Ginny tried to catch his eyes and smiled hopefully.

Without looking up Harry whispered hoarsely, "I-I'm fine."

Ginny paused, "Are you sure?"

"I'll be all right, really."

"You know I'll be here if you change your mind, Jill."

"Er, thanks, Ginny." Harry refused to look up, still embarrassed.

"I'm not joking!" She said firmly. "You may be new to the school, but you could still use a friend."

"Yeah, new here," he said, his words dripping with sarcasm.

Harry tried to gain some control and looked up to Ginny, trying to smile and mean it. _If I'm stuck as a girl, I'll have to start acting like one._

* * *

_Hope the chapter wasn't super lame. I'll try to let it move along faster, it should get more interesting gasp_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Quite some time had passed, and _Jill _remained silent. Ginny was beginning to worry about this new girl. She had cried with such agony, Ginny wasn't entirely sure what the best thing would be to do for her. _I literally cannot stand Jill's silence, it's as if everyone in Gryffindor has settled into a state of depression, and the one girl who should be the furthest removed from it is in such a mess._

Jill looked up at her, those deep grey eyes filled with so much sadness that Ginny simply couldn't help throwing her arms up around her shoulders.

"Oh Jill, everything will be okay."

She continued to cry, erupting in terrible shudders.

"Please don't cry anymore," Ginny pleaded.

Ginny began to cry as well, into Jill's shoulder. _Oh Jill, if only you knew anything about Harry. Everyone is so devastated! I miss him so much, I can only hope he'll pull through this and just wake up. I still can't believe they're trying to keep him in St. Mungo's, his body seems so lifeless, but the Healers must know what they mean when they say he's still alive._

Ginny's tears were spilling onto Jillian's shoulder, she couldn't help it whenever her thoughts drifted back to Harry. She never had a chance to tell him about her little girl crush on him. _That's so stupid, if only he knew how I felt, would it have made things worse now? Would they be different? It's hard enough on the rest of my family, even Hermione with him gone, but I-I can't do this!_

Both girls seemed oddly glad that they were the only two in the room. No one else could hear them cry, even if it was for different reasons.

oOoOoOo

As Ginny reached up to hug Harry, he twitched. The smell of her flowery perfume mixed with the smell from the Burrow. It was quite overwhelming, and yet highly intoxicating.

Harry had been suppressing feelings for her since last year, Cho had been far too emotional and Ginny was so. . . wonderful.

Instead of crying more, Harry's eyes dried up completely thinking about Ginny in a highly non-friend way. He immediately saw the need to restrain himself from kissing her senseless, she was so comforting right now. If he gave any inkling, especially in his current state, of his feelings she might just run from the room in terror.

_I__ just need to keep up the Jill façade for now, it would scare her away if I tried to claim that I was Harry Potter._

He didn't want to do anything that would end their closeness at the moment. All he wanted to do was hold her close, she was clearly feeling some pain. He breathed in the sent of her hair, sighing softly. After a moment of utter bliss, a light bulb lit up in his head.

"I need to see Dumbledore!" Harry practically shouted, realizing he might fix all that was going on.

Ginny looked up in shock, confused.

"Um, Jill, he said he would be away from the castle for the next month. Didn't you know?"

Harry grimaced, "no, I guess I didn't."

Ginny brushed her red locks out of her eyes and stood up. "Hey, let's grab some lunch, get our minds out of the misery all right?"

She was trying to think of anything else but Harry and all the pain he was causing. Ginny wanted to help Jill as much as possible, maybe a new friend would help the most.

Harry smiled and pushed himself up off the floor. It didn't seem like such a big problem to worry about being a girl than still resisting the urge to leap at Ginny, _so tempting._

_Shut up!_ He thought, _I need to make this believable, as it doesn't seem like anything's going to be done about this for a month. Damn, this is so frustrating, I might just have to hurt Dumbledore when he gets back, making me a girl, ugh._

Harry reached for Ginny's hand, hoping most girls were comfortable with that among friends. To his joy, Ginny smiled brightly and the two finally left the depressing common room.

oOoOoOo

For the first time in several months Ginny felt elated, her heart was light in her chest, and she was smiling.

"So, how are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?" Ginny asked, hoping she could get the new girl's mind off of her depressing thoughts.

"Uh, it's pretty great, I guess."

"There's really a lot to do here, so you never have to be alone or bored." Ginny sighed, thinking she might always be alone no matter how many people surrounded her, Harry wouldn't be there.

"Oh, that's -- nice."

"Did you play any sports at your old school?"

"Ye -- no, not really," Harry caught himself, realizing he was supposed to be a muggle-born witch who wouldn't know anything about magic, definitely not quidditch.

"Well, we have this great game called quidditch, I bet you would love it!"

Harry smiled, _hmm, Ginny talking about sports, I_ -- _no! I can't think that, urg!_

"Yeah, it's two teams that fly on brooms. There are three people who try to get a ball called the quaffle into one of three hoops of the opposing team's side. Then there are two beaters who hit bludgers at the other players. And of course there's a seeker who has to catch the golden snitch, this wicked fast, flying ball."

"Wow, it sounds, complicated. But fun."

"There are a lot of rules, but every house is involved, goes to games, cheers, and whatnot."

They had walked into the Great Hall through their conversation and were looking for an open seat among the Gryffindor table. Dean Thomas was waving from the opposite end, smiling brightly. Ginny had dated him briefly in the previous year, but he was still hopeful about dating her again. She didn't ever see him as more than a friend, a lot of good it did her to date him now if Harry wasn't here to get jealous about it.

Ginny attempted to not see Dean's waving hand and steered Jill to a spot near Neville Longbottom.

Harry was smiling by the time they sat next to Neville, _finally, someone I like, I wish I knew where Hermione and Ron were._

"Hey Neville!" Ginny chirped in a sing-song voice.

Harry waved sheepishly, pretending as if he had never seen him before in his life.

Neville looked up in relief, he wasn't exactly the most popular boy and Ginny had been the first person to speak to him today.

"Hi Ginny! Um, who's your friend?"

"I'm, Jill." Harry tried not to looked Neville in the eyes _what if he sees through to Harry in this girl's body! Oh god, I need to be less paranoid, otherwise I'm going to be spending the next month hiding up in the dormitory._

Ginny rolled her eyes, _great, two shy people meeting is a very quiet experience, I might as well help get the ball rolling here._

"Jill here, is new! I don't think she's met many people but hey she might be in defense against the dark arts with you Neville, she's been put into the sixth year class."

Harry looked up in shock, he pressed his lips together to keep from bursting out in questions.

Neville also seemed to be surprised, looking up at Harry, er Jill, with intrigue.

"Wow, that's impressive Jill."

"Um, yeah, thanks." Harry mumbled.

Neville looked down at his watch, "I have to get to class, but it looks like I'll be seeing you later this afternoon Jill. See you Ginny!"

Neville heaved his bag from the floor and scurried quickly out of the Great Hall. Ginny hadn't even sat down yet, _so much for being around other people_, she thought.

She pulled Jill down to sit and pulled up a bowl of steaming soup. She smiled brightly at Jill before indulging in the delicious goodness that was French onion.

Harry sighed and reached for a sandwich from the platter in front of him, munching quietly. The two, girls remained silent for a while to eat. Each was looking in a different direction, wishing someone else would be starting the conversation soon.

_Wonderful_, Harry thought. _This is becoming quite the awkward experience._

* * *

**_Author's Note_**:

Is it awkward at this point? Good, it should be. Oh is that not what you were thinking? Too bad, I have put the thoughts in your head, you will now be thinking them (muahahaha).

I can't help but not put Neville in a story, therefore he will be playing a bigger role than you think (cope with it, I know you'll manage).

And yes, I can be quick with a new chapter because I'm amazing (guffaww, guffaww).

One last point, of course. Would you mind ever so much to click that little button you see below these words? It would mean loads of lovely if you reviewed!!


	5. Chapter 5

********

Chapter 5

The Hall was noisy for a usual lunch period, but Harry and Ginny remained silent, neither willing to speak first. Several Slytherins were laughing heartily over some obscene joke Draco Malfoy had just told. Ginny looked over at him with a death glare on her face, she could only hope this was an occasion where looks could kill. It was not the case.

Harry looked down at the table and began to twirl a blonde curl around his finger, thinking about what things he should know about who he was, and what he might have already told Ginny that he couldn't remember. _Okay, there needs to be a way I can find out how long I've been here, without seeming so odd. Right? Maybe if I ask what her classes are, what today is? Worth a shot, can I really just come out and ask that?_

He looked up at Ginny who was still staring down Malfoy, and he giggled. Ginny came out of her dagger eyes attack and stared back.

"What?" Ginny cocked her head to one side, she wondered what _Jill _could possibly be thinking about, quite a mystery, she hardly knew a thing about her.

"Hey Ginny, did we um, get our class schedules yet then?" Harry bit his bottom now pale pink lip and looked up at her with his new grey eyes.

Ginny frowned, "yeah, I gave it to you yesterday. Your first class is Herbology with me in greenhouse 4."

"Oh, right. Um, when is that anyways?" Harry hoped he had some time to talk with her, at least as a girl he could spend more time with her and it wouldn't appear so, obvious.

Ginny looked absentmindedly down at her watch, "Oh we just need to be--" she stole one last glance at her watch in disbelief.

"Ginny?"

"Let's go, we'll be late!" Ginny shouted, for she had already gotten up and was in a dead run for the door. _It's the first day of class and I'm going to be late, that's just dandy. And I've got a new student to tend to, great example I'm setting!_

Harry dashed off behind her, frantically thinking he had no idea where his bag was and if it even had books for class. He would be completely unprepared for anything.

The two dashed out of the castle and past the first three greenhouses before reaching the right one. The rest of the class was already settled in place, each with a plant in front of them and Professor Sprout was already giving instructions.

Ginny grabbed his hand, pulling frantically, "Come on, it's too late to sneak in now, any later and we'll both be landed with detention!"

They slipped inside and all eyes turned towards them. By the many stares and gaping mouths, Harry could guess that almost no one had seen _Jill_ before.

"I'm glad you finally decided to join us Ginny, and I see you've come with our new student. Well, no time for introductions now, please find a seat and catch up with someone near you quickly, I'll talk to the both of you at the end."

Harry sighed in relief, he didn't appreciate all of the staring, even if it wasn't because he had a famous name and more like because he was. . . _wait, why are they staring?_

He followed Ginny to a seat near the back and then proceeded to stare into his hands as almost every head had turned to follow them as the found seats. The stares were getting quite embarrassing in Harry's opinion.

OOoOoOo

Ginny rolled her eyes enthusiastically and kicked the boy sitting across from them who was snickering and whispering incessantly into his neighbor's ear. She proceed to glare at Colin Creevey, who was still gaping at the new girl.

_Bloody bastards, _she thought_. Can't keep their eyes to themselves just 'cause the new girl is remotely attractive. Honestly, the boys here are like a pack of starving wolves who've come upon a sick rabbit._

A tall boy sitting next to Jill leaned over and whispered, "hello lovely, do you need help around this big new school now?"

Ginny grimaced, "Shut _up_ Harold, she's not interested." She had to clutch the table to keep from screaming at him. Harold Dingle, too much of a lady's man for his own good.

Luna Lovegood was smiling oddly at the two girls and slid her parchment towards Ginny. She looked down and noticed Luna had written a detailed description of the assignment, along with helpful side notes.

Ginny looked up wide-eyed "Thanks Luna" she whispered softly and passed it discreetly to Jill.

Luna nodded once and turned to her plant that she was currently sharing with Lisa Turpin.

Harry squinted down at the parchment, trying to read the miniscule handwriting.

_Taming Devil's Snare:_

_Clip the tendrils of the baby plant with your sharpest sheers. Be careful not to make quick movements or the plant will lash out. Re-soil, and water gently, before putting it carefully back in the cool, shadowed corner of the greenhouse._

_Tips: Devil's Snare does not like sunlight, it will shrivel back with contact, but it still needs water and oxygen for sustenance. It's long vines will attempt to strangle anything around it, especially if it is moving. Young clippings (as the ones we are working with) tend to be more violent. Sharp thorns surround the stem of a youngling and later fall off when it reaches adult-hood._

He could clearly remember his one run-in with the plant back in his first year. It had nearly killed Ron, who refused to relax and would have taken him as well if Hermione were not there to help.

Ginny was already pulling out a pair of shears and leaning over the plant, with a ponderous look upon her face.

"Just, watch for now Jill. I'm sure you haven't seen a plant quite like this, you don't want to get hurt." She smiled warmly and slowly removed a trimming.

Harry's gaze went unfocused and he relapsed into his own thoughts for the rest of the class.

_Why does that Harold boy keep staring at me? It's starting to creep me out, honestly, he should keep his eyes to himself. Colin's doing it too, but he's always seemed like the kind of kid who would stare at anyone. _

_I can't worry about that now, I really need to work out this stupid girl character here. Alright, I know my name is Jill, my parents are muggles and I'm just now starting school at Hogwarts. Wait, how are people believing that I'm capable of being in all these advanced classes? If I just started now, why am I not in with the first years? Maybe I can get Ginny to tell me. _

oOoOoOo

Harry felt as if he had barely begun thinking when Ginny began pulling his arm gently. He looked up in confusion.

"Jill, it's time to go. You, um, kind of went away with yourself there."

"Oh, sorry."

Professor Sprout had hurried over before the two could leave and was standing on the opposite side of the table, facing them. Ginny smiled sheepishly and Harry just looked down at his toes.

"Jillian Pearwood is it?" She asked curtly.

"Yes, mam." Harry kept his gaze down.

"Well I'll have to take away, let's say, five housepoints for lateness, but if it happens again it'll be a detention. Ginny, don't let it happen again." Professor Sprout smiled warmly at the girls, knowing fully that it was almost too kind of her to let them off this easy.

"Wow, thanks professor!" Ginny exclaimed.

She nodded and Ginny pulled Harry out of the greenhouse.

"That was really lucky, any other professor and we'd already be landed with detention."

"Yeah, lucky. So I guess it's off to our next class?"

"Right, we've got some time though. Why don't we talk for a bit?"

Harry smiled brightly and followed Ginny back into the castle. _At least I can attempt to get some questions answered._

* * *

The next chapter should help things along a little bit.

As in, Harry is still wondering at this point what the hell is going on. Aw, so sad for him.

I'll try my hardest to get it up soon. I think I have about two more weeks to continue at this pace with chapters and whatnot. Getting ready for school and blah blah blah. Please R&R.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

He followed Ginny, past the Great Hall and up the stairs, but they didn't stop on the right floor. Ginny led him further up the stairs and down a rather quiet and completely empty seventh floor corridor.

"Um Ginny?"

"What?" She smiled and cocked her head to the side.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, trying not to sound flustered. Being alone with Ginny at any time seemed like quite a tantalizing idea.

"You mean instead of to Gryffindor tower, don't you?"

"Yeah." He sighed with some relief. _It's lucky she can't read my mind or something like that, this conversation would NOT be so relaxed in that case._

"It's quiet up here Jill, see look: not a student in sight."

"Right. . .uh." Harry could see the place was deserted but that still didn't explain why they were here, alone.

Ginny rolled her eyes. _Honestly, Jill can be as thick as brick sometimes._

"I thought you surely would have noticed by now, but Jill, you're hot."

"What!?" Harry was shocked to hear this from Ginny, is that what she really thought. Harry's breath caught in his throat and he looked towards Ginny with his eyes wide.

Ginny giggled softly. She covered her mouth to stop herself, but it only got worse. After Harry remained silent, with the look of utter innocence and confusion on his face, Ginny was rolling on the floor letting out peals of laughter.

"Cut it out!" Harry had finally come out of his confused stupor and shouted at Ginny.

Ginny's laughter stopped abruptly and she stood up, a deep pink blush on her cheeks.

"Sorry. It's just, how could you not know?"

Harry raised his eyebrows, still confused.

"I mean, for one have you looked in a mirror recently? You're truly gorgeous. But I suppose if you don't believe your own eyes you'd just have to see any other boy who's laid their eyes on you. I mean almost every guy, maybe even a few girls, were literally drooling when they saw you."

"Ew, gross." Harry grimaced, he did not want _that _kind of attention as a girl.

Ginny let another laugh escape before clapping both her hand firmly over the abomination.

Harry smiled, "it's okay."

"Well, I guess now you know what was up with all the staring. In fact, if I were you I'd be pretty careful, especially around people like Harold."

"Oh, you mean that tall boy who, wait, was he flirting with me!?" Harry felt slightly nauseated, he wouldn't mind a guy flirting if he were a guy as well, or even a girl flirting. All bets were off in this new girl form, and he'd rather be thought of as a hermaphrodite if that's what it took.

"He won't be the only one." A pained expression past Ginny's face for such a brief moment that Harry had no time to notice it.

"Are you sure?" Harry was hoping she was joking, in a sick and twisted way.

"Yeah, right. After that display in Herbology I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of Slytherins tried to get your attention by the end of the week."

"Men are, pigs." It felt weird to Harry to refer to himself (well, previous self) like that.

"No," Ginny said with malice. "Men can be damn bloody bastards."

Harry looked taken aback by the expression on her face. She seemed like she was ready to pounce on the first man willing to walk around the corner. And, for the first time, Harry thanked his lucky stars he was a girl at this moment.

After Harry was fairly sure that Ginny would rip his head off, _she has no idea, I'm fine, I think_, he cleared his throat to get her attention. She didn't even move.

"Ginny!"

She shook her head, "uh? Oh, um sorry about that Jill, I guess I've got a poisonous place in my heart when it comes to men." She scowled again as if to prove her point.

Harry rocked nervously on his heels, _I wish I knew what she was thinking, why she's so angry._ But he could only wish, at this point more than worried if he said the wrong thing she would attempt to break his neck.

oOoOoOo

Ginny gritted her teeth in defiance, she did not want to hold a conversation with anyone about_ man troubles._

At this point anger was a better course for her feelings that falling into a heap on the floor and bursting into uncontrollable sobs. She might just leak dry and die if she cried any more, not worth the effort (or pain).

She blinked, trying to stop tears from falling and, surprisingly, it worked.

She sighed, wanting to make sure she was perfectly (or as close as she could be) composed. She let her thoughts drift back once more to her anger, as it seemed these days any boy would end up triggering in the end.

_Harry. Why in hell are you so stupid! _She thought in anguish._ Just like every other man you're a complete idiot, but I still love this idiot. Why did you have to go and test that sleeping potion?! You're almost dead in that hospital bed. Maybe I should just put you out of your misery, you-you-you jerk!_

Ginny couldn't let her thoughts think of anything worse to call Harry, she didn't want them to. She felt stupid in herself for caring about him so much, it was only going to cause more pain rather than do any good. Besides, she didn't need to unload all of this on Jill, she was just a new girl, enough troubles of her own.

She felt like she'd only been thinking to herself for a few seconds, but by Jill's expression she would have guessed she'd been standing with a grimace on her face for a lot longer than that.

She smiled guiltily. "Sorry, I just, never mind."

She saw Jill look up carefully, making sure that the monster in Ginny's eyes had left, at least for now.

"Don't worry, I won't bite," and then Ginny smiled broadly before plopping herself on the stone floor and leaning up against the wall. Jill followed suit, sitting just opposite her.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, Jill, what's your deal? I mean no offense, it's just you've been here for almost two days and this is the most I've heard you say."

"I'm, shy?" Harry mentally slapped himself, he felt like he was asking things about himself and it just felt silly.

"I guess I gathered as much. It's interesting really, Dumbledore hardly told me a thing about you!"

Harry looked up slyly, "what _did _he tell you?"

Ginny didn't seem to notice anything odd about Jill's question and continued. "Oh, he said you were coming into school, but not a transfer. He said you'd be put in Gryffindor and I had to keep an eye on you, show you around and whatnot. He also said you knew quite a bit of magic already, but other than that, I don't know anything about you."

oOoOoOo

Harry had been working through what he would say for a while and he hoped it would sound believable. By the look on Ginny's face, as if she were ready to sit and listen for hours to whatever he was going to say, she wanted plenty of detail.

"I was home schooled." Harry blinked, _please make this believable._

"Oh," Ginny looked taken aback, "I, thought you were muggle born."

Harry frowned, _shit shit shit, now what am I supposed to do. I forgot, the Pearwoods are muggles, what the hell! Think fast Harry._

He had only paused for a second and hoped his next remark would repair the damage, "Yeah, but I taught myself. My parents, didn't know, I, kept it a secret. I studied magic at night and because no one knew, I was never sent off to school. By the time I had learned as much as I had I was too old, but my parents found out and Dumbledore helped a lot."

Harry couldn't believe it himself, he felt he had lied so smoothly, with perfect poise. He was sure Ginny would believe, which made him feel even worse about the situation.

A small part of him almost hoped Ginny would see through it and see that it was Harry beneath this Jill, but he tried to think he knew better than to be that incredibly stupid.

oOoOoOo

"Wow," was all Ginny could say in response.

She'd never heard anyone try so hard with magic, to keep it from her parents, and yet practice with all that determination, it was mind boggling. Jill was a stronger person that Ginny would have imagined, learning magic on your own wasn't exactly an easy feat.

"Did you have a wand? How did you get your hands on any books? Was it just a feeling? How did you parents find out? Did they contact Dumbledore or did he find you?" Ginny's face was becoming overly warm, she was clearly excited about how different Jill seemed.

"That's, a lot of questions" Jill whispered so quietly Ginny was leaning forward to hear her every word.

Ginny blushed crimson now, "Sorry, I was just, curious."

"Did Dumbledore really tell you that little bit about me?"

"Well, he mentioned you knowing magic, being a muggle born, and that you might be upset, like having nightmares." Ginny could barely string words together, she could hear her own voice crack.

__

Why did Dumbledore have to tell me something that personal about a new student, I'm sure she's just embarrassed about that and it's so not my business. . . And of course I just made it worse bringing it up now.

The room was silent for a while, listening closely one might not even be able to hear their light breathing.

oOoOoOo

Harry thought very carefully about how to phrase his next words. It was clear that not even Ginny knew much about his girl-self, so making things up as he went was really his only option. He really didn't want to lie though. . .

"I, had a tough childhood." He paused to hear Ginny's breathing stop, "I just don't like talking about it anymore, if you don't mind."

"I get it, that's fine." Ginny squeaked and kept her gaze towards the floor.

Harry sighed in relief, he didn't have to lie completely to her, but maybe she wouldn't make the connection and he wouldn't have to go into tremendous detail about his fake life.

Harry glanced down at his bare wrist, cursing himself for not putting on a watch as he had done every morning when he was a _guy._

"Um, Ginny? What time is the next class we have."

Ginny rubbed her face roughly, _strike two_, she thought. "Well, I was supposed to take you down, but there's ten minutes before class and we're going in opposite directions."

"What?" Harry looked at her in more surprise.

"You've got defense against the dark arts. Don't worry, it's really easy to get there from here, and besides you'll be in a class with Neville, someone you already know!"

Ginny smiled brightly, clutching his elbow and pulling him swiftly to his feet.

"Don't worry, Jill, you'll be fine!" She said and pointed him in the right direction before scurrying away to her charms class.

__

Sure, he thought_, I'm just headed down to a class with all the Gryffindors who know Harry the best, and I'm now a chick. Yeah, that's going to end well._

* * *

_Author's Note_: Hey look at that, I'm getting another chapter up! I know, I'm amazing (just kidding, but I try, really I do). I feel like the fun hasn't even begun yet, but no worries, it's just around the corner!

I hope you're enjoying it! It would mean the world to me if you were. In fact, it's ever so convenient that by clicking that little button right down there you CAN in fact tell me how you feel...much love for that. ta ta for now!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Harry hurried down the hall, knowing full well where the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was. He figured things wouldn't be too drastically different, considering he had spent the last five years as a boy in the very same class.

As he entered the room and every head swiveled around to stare at him, he realized this new class was going to be hell.

Every boy had a slightly different look on their face, but all implied the same thing. Harry was _hot_. Well, at least he hoped they were thinking Jillian was hot (no matter how odd it seemed for his old friends to think of him in that sense).

Neville glanced up with a slightly pained smile before staring back down at the desk, a hint of pink in his cheeks. Ron was gaping with his mouth practically unhinged as he watched Harry walk to the front of the class.

Harry could handle reactions like this, it was the way the other Slytherins were looking at him that made his skin crawl.

_I wish they'd send me death glares instead of this. Ew._

Draco Malfoy's eyes were roving up and down the petite girl's body, a large smirk encompassing all of his features. Harry thought it was quite a revolting look.

Sadly, the drooling looks from all of the boys was the least of Harry's worries at this point. Standing at the front of the class, clearly acting as the teacher, was Severus Snape.

_What the hell?_ He thought, and had to bite his tongue (once again) before lashing out with a comment only Harry would have made.

Snape looked up, very nonplused about the new student.

"Glad to see you've finally joined us Ms. Pearwood. Find a seat somewhere, and _don't_ be late for one of my classes again," Snape sneered and turned swiftly towards the large black board behind his desk, where he continued to scrawl hardly legible notes.

Harry turned, trying to keep his head down as he hurried as quickly as possible to an empty seat in the back. He hoped sitting far behind any other student would draw less attention, and thus, less suspicion.

"And as I was saying before we were so _rudely_ interrupted. We will begin work on defense against several magical and sinister creatures for this term. There will be certain ways to defend yourself, and the exams will be based on a combination of practical and written application." Snape's voice droned on for several minutes.

Harry quietly pulled out some fresh parchment and a quill as quietly as possible. Snape's lecture was proving relatively boring. According to Snape, the students would develop approaches to defending themselves, learn the spells in full, and after forever and a day they might just get the chance to put them to use.

_No, I'm going to attempt to be a good student, if at least in this class. Snape shouldn't exactly know I'm Harry so there should be no reason for him to hate me. I'll just manage through and things won't be terrible for me. _Harry pondered for a while, absentmindedly taking the notes Snape was conjuring onto the board in the front of the room.

"Psst." Harry looked up cautiously, trying to see who was attempting to get his attention. No one was blatantly facing him, so he went back to writing notes.

"Hey, psst...come on you know I'm talking to you," the voice persisted.

Harry glanced up again to see Draco Malfoy staring at him, a smile on his face. Harry put a finger to his lips, and went back to his notes. Draco sighed so audibly that Snape paused in speech for a moment, realized it was Draco, and proceeded with the lecture.

Harry smiled to himself, _at least I can stave off Draco attempting to hit on me. Being a girl isn't all that bad!--_

A piece of rolled up parchment sailed at Harry and landed just on top of his notes. Snape with his back to the class noticed nothing. Harry rolled his eyes, and slowly unrolled the scroll.

It read:

_Dear Ms. Pearwood,_

_I know you are new to this school and everything must be frightening for you. I'd be happy to keep you company, say tonight at dinner, and show you around the castle. I never did catch your first name. Well, I'm Draco Malfoy, the handsome blonde sitting towards the front. I'll wait for you after class._

_-DM_

oOoOoOo

Harry began to crumple up the note before a very Hermione-esque voice filled his head_ FREEZE! Come on Harry, do you have any idea what's going on here? If you reject Malfoy like this now then not only will you have enemies being Harry but Jill will also have some. That's NOT the way to go right now. You need to lay low and don't let this kind of crap get to you. _Harry shook his head lightly, hearing Hermione's voice inside his head, even if it was his own thought, was weird. But he agreed (obviously, it was his own mind, assuming he had some form of control over it).

Harry sat very still, avoiding the backwards glances from Draco, and to his surprise, aslo from Neville. _Alright, if I don't punch Malfoy in the face for being overly annoying in this situation he may not taunt me forever. However, I will not get the immense satisfaction of seeing him bleed and he will probably come on to me for quite some time. But Dumbledore did say that I should just pretend to be a new person, I'm not entirely Harry here, or at least I can't be without someone figuring me out, right? Uh, I'm so confused I'm not even sure what I'm saying._

Harry let his thoughts collect until the end of the class. He still wasn't entirely sure what the best action would be.

Too late, Draco Malfoy was heading over to where he was sitting and with the gaggle of people pushing towards the door to get out, the only way Harry could evade him would be to disapperate, what a shame he hadn't learned how yet.

"Well? May I accompany you to dinner, Miss?" Draco drawled as he held out a hand to Harry, Crabbe and Goyle were standing back slightly from him, with looks of anger, and perhaps jealous on their faces.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I-I'm not all that hungry." Harry thought as quickly as he could of a lame excuse to get out of dinner, while remaining polite.

"rumble"

"What was that?" Draco asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Harry inhaled, _well it may have worked if my stomach hadn't betrayed me, curse my luck._

"Nothing, really,I-- need to go." Harry pushed past Draco and tried to hurry out of the room.

But Draco would not give in that easily. He was right behind Harry as he turned out of the classroom and quickly fell into step beside him.

"Are you sure you're not hungry? It sounded like your stomach rumbling back there, and I'm sure a trip to the Great Hall would clear that right up. I'd be more than willing to lead you there. Now I never did get your name, it's...?"

"Jill" Harry said through clenched teeth. Draco had a hand on his elbow and was attempting to steer him towards the Great Hall.

"That's lovely. Hm, I haven't seen you around much at all, were you sorted into a house? You'd be wonderful as a slytherin I'm sure."

"Nope, I'm in Gryffindor."

Draco cringed slightly, "Shame, what a waste of a lovely face."

"Excuse me?!"

"Oh, simply that Gryffindor's are perhaps the worst house of the four, and you're so pretty that you'll be stuck a bunch of losers for the next few years."

"Well I happen to like the few Gryffindor's I've met." and with that Harry shrugged Draco's draping arm off of his shoulder and bolted into the Great Hall to sit with the Gryffindors (or simply anyone who wasn't Draco).

Harry had spotted Ginny at the end of the table, looking slightly worse for wear and he pelted himself towards her as fast as he could, sitting across from her in a pant.

"Um, Jill, what just happened?"

"Huh? Oh um, Malfoy was being a prat, I just didn't want to be around him much longer."

Ginny glanced over her shoulder to see Draco looking angry enough to curse someone as he slumped off to the Slytherin table. She laughed.

"HA! Well Jill, you are the first in a long time to wipe that smug look off his face, congrats!"

"As long as that's the end of it. He's not exactly my cup of tea."

"Oh, that might be problematic. Once Draco has his eye on someone, he won't give up easily. Oh Jill, I'm sorry but Draco will be after you for a while, I'm sure."

"That's just bloody fantastic then."

* * *

Note: Gah! I'm horrible, I've waited far too long to add more chapters and I'm really sorry about that. I also feel like this story might be lacking in awesome. Which I should say is not good, and I hope to fix that problem. I don't want this story to be overly cliche and I plan to make things more creative. Props to those of you who are still reading this, that's some dedication! Oh, and sumbitting a review would always be appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

**As Harry Likes It**

Chapter 8

Harry woke up very groggy and grumpy. Sunlight was pouring in between the curtains of his four-poster bed and it certainly was not welcome. He squinted and rolled over onto his side, pulling the covers up over his eyes.

_Bloody sunlight_, he thought. _I'm willing to skip class today after that randomly awkward dream. Oh god, even Draco was hitting on me. So glad I'm not a girl._

Harry smiled before drifting off into more peaceful sleep. If it only it lasted more than five minutes.

Someone very cruel had ripped open his curtains, letting in all amounts of that annoying sunlight pour into his face.

"Bloody hell, shut the damn curtains!" Harry grunted.

"Well excuse me, I didn't know you would be this grumpy in the morning," someone mocked in a light sing-song voice.

Harry flinched, that did not sound like the voice of Ron, Neville, Seamus, or even Dean. It sounded like a girl. Ginny in fact. He peeked just the top of his head out from the covers to see for sure.

"Good morning Jill!" Ginny chirped pleasantly.

_Are you KIDDING me!? _Harry thought. _This is the second day in a row I've woken up to discover I'm still a girl. What the hell! Why can't I just be Harry again, this is getting ridiculous. More prancing around as a girl again today I guess. Fantastic._

"Oh, sorry Ginny…I guess I just didn't sleep well." Harry mumbled, stumbling out of bed.

"That's okay, every girl has those mornings." she smiled. "Well, just get dressed quickly so we can grab some breakfast before class, we've got Transfiguration together this morning!"

Harry smiled, it was always nice to see Ginny in a good mood. He liked the way her red hair bounced as she practically danced out of the room and down the stairs. _Hm, she's so…what am I doing!? Screw it, might as well think about Ginny if I feel like it. It's not like I'd be that obvious, right?_

In a slightly more chipper mood, he jumped out of bed, picking up some clean robes to change into. He even felt more awake after he splashed some cool water onto the pale, freckled cheeks of his now very feminine body. Rubbing the dark grey eyes, he looked into the mirror again and smiled cautiously. A stunning young girl looked back at him, soft eyes sparkled and long blonde locks hung over his, er, her shoulders.

Hell, as a girl, Harry was down right hot.

oOoOoOo

Ginny was in a great mood today. As she walked down to the Great Hall with Jill she couldn't help talking about the different things at Hogwarts. What fun things there were to do on the weekends, which places it was best to stay away from, and even what professors had a knack for putting their students to sleep.

And still Jill kept quiet. She smiled and nodded a lot, but even with slight prodding about her old life/school/family/anything, she just shrugged it off and asked more questions about Hogwarts, or Ginny's family.

_I hope that I didn't scare her with talking about Harry yesterday. I kind of spilled an awful lot about myself yesterday. And she just keeps asking more about myself, how crazy is this?_

"What are your brothers like? Didn't you say you had a big family?"

"Oh, yeah. Well I have three brothers in school right now; the twins, Fred and George and Ron. Then Percy's off at the ministry of magic, and my two oldest brothers are Bill and Charlie. Do you have any siblings? I haven't heard a thing about your family."

Harry smiled vaguely, and shook his head, hoping to prod Ginny with more questions and distract her.

The plan was clearly a success. They had made it to the Great Hall and the only thing he had said was "mmm, waffles."

oOoOoOo

There was a smattering of students sitting at the four long tables in the hall. Most were quiet, leaning over their breakfast or whispering to their neighbor about classes or the dreadful weather (it was currently raining).

Down the Gryffindor table Harry spotted Ron and Hermione sitting together, talking softly. His heart skipped a beat, and before he could think clearly he ran down to the end of the hall to greet them.

"Ron!" he yelled. "Hey Ron!"

Too late. Ron and Hermione looked up utterly surprised to see a petite blonde girl they had probably never laid eyes on before who was running towards them and calling to Ron as if she had know him for years.

_Oops._

* * *

Author's Note: I am soooo ridiculously sorry with the crazy amount of time it has taken me to write anything else at all. It's quite pathetic (even this chapter is relatively short). I hope people still enjoy this and that those who are still reading forgive me for taking so long. Who knows, maybe I'll put another fun piece up really soor or even the next chapter! Now that would be something amazing, wouldn't it?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Harry stumbled towards Ron and Hermione, realizing a moment too late that they would not recognize him disguised as a girl. He stood in front of them dumbfounded as the pair stared back at him with astonishment.

"Um, I don't believe we've met. Uh, um. Hi, I'm Har—I mean, I'm Jill Pearwood, I'm new. I, uh, saw you two in Defense Against the Dark Arts yesterday. Him," Harry mumbled out the words in a stutter.

Hermione was the first to gain her composure and smiled back warmly at the girl-Harry. Ron still sat with his head cranked around to face Harry, mouth agape and eyes wide.

"It's nice to meet you Jill. I'm sorry_ Ron_ here is being so rude," Hermione stated while jabbing her elbow into Ron's side to keep him from literally drooling over Harry. Ron bent his hear down like a sad little puppy and attempted to conceal his sideways glances at the obviously attractive Jill.

Harry rubbed his arm and glanced down at his shoes while asking if he could eat breakfast with the two. He hoped beyond all hope that Ginny had followed him over to the two and would also sit with them. _Oh God, have I ever felt this awkward in my entire life? I have to lie to my best mates about who I am and Ron is in love with me, what the hell? Okay, wait, I've had worse, remember that date with Cho on Valentine's Day? *shudder* Oh, that was worse._

Harry put on his best smile and sat down next to Hermione. He flipped his blondish hair out of his eyes, cursing to himself that he didn't think to put it up in something. Hermione sighed and handed him a hair tie.

"Here, I always carry an extra"

Harry looked up at Hermione with relief, "Oh, thanks so much!"

"Huh, for a girl, you're pretty strange. Why don't you carry around a hair tie with a mane like yours?"

"What? No! I'm not strange, I'm just, wait what are you, no. I uh…yeah."

Hermione laughed. "Oh, hon, it's okay. Don't worry about it. You're new and everything's a little confusing. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sure you're just a normal girl, just like the rest of us. I do apologize for the boys like Ron, who can't seem to keep their eyes off of you."

"Hey now, I'm right here, quit talking about me!" Ron looked unabashed to speak up now and make his presence know to this "new girl."

Ron leaned over Hermione to get a good look at Jill. "Hey, Jill, I know you're new here but if you want I'll show you around the castle after breakfast, I have a free period and it's a lovely day."

Hermione rolled her eyes and reached for a piece toast from a large stack sitting at the center of the table.

"Sure Ron, that would be lovely," Harry, erm, Jill smiled warmly at Ron before scooping scrambled eggs onto his plate. He might as well hang out with people he knew and liked, even if he was a girl.

Ron led Jill around the grounds instead of inside the castle because he claimed it was too nice of a day to stay indoors and there was plenty outside he could show her about Hogwarts. Harry was ready to hurl remembering a recent conversation he had with Ron as a man on the subject of wooing women.

_Now, you see, Harry, the best way to make a woman fall head over heels is to show her respect and attention and beautiful things. And what's more beautiful than the outdoors? The true way to woo a girl at Hogwarts is to take her for a walk around the lake. I'm telling you, one minute we're walking around and enjoying the scene, then BAM we're snogging._

Yes, Harry was incredibly worried about Ron's next move on the girl-Harry. But as Harry had been in his own little world thinking about all the nauseating things Ron might attempt to pull with Jill, he had entirely lost track of what exactly Ron was saying.

"Jill? Hey, Jill!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Ron. I must have missed what you just said, I think. . ."

"Well," Ron blushed a bright red, clashing horribly with his hair. "I was, um wondering if you like Quidditch?"

_Lie, lie through your teeth and don't say another word about that delectable sport. If Ron has any inkling that you actually enjoy it, he will only like you more._ A little Hermione-esque voice was practically screaming these words in Harry's head.

"Um, no?"

"You don't like it? Really? Get out! I think you're fooling me."

"No really, I'm just not that into sports and stuff."

"Well, I bet you just don't know enough about Quidditch to really like it. I'm sure if I showed you how to play you'd absolutely love it!"

Harry's heart did a flip flop. It appeared that nothing would deter Ron's affections for Jillian and now he would have to pretend he truly dislike Quidditch.

"I'm not sure if that's the best—"

"Oh sure it, it'll be great! Here, I can take you down to the Quidditch pitch now and show you a few things."

And before Harry even had time to say a word, Ron had grabbed his hand and dashed them off to the Quidditch field.

* * *

_Author's Note: I am so sorry that this is so late. I plan on writing more this summer, I promise._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Ron dashed to the field just beyond the castle with Jill in tow. _Oh this is terrific! If she doesn't just love the beautiful outdoors she's crazy. I wonder if we could just stay out here all day, it wouldn't be the end of the world if I missed potions this afternoon anyway. I wonder if I should. . . _

They had finally reached the Quidditch pitch and the girl on Ron's arm bent over in a pant.

"Why. Did we run—so fast?" she asked.

Ron smirked, "I'm sorry I was so excited to get here. It's just so beautiful and I wanted to share it with someone beautiful like you."

Without a moment's hesitation Ron leaned in towards the girl, with puckered lips and closed eyes.

oOoOoOo

_What the hell is going on? Why is Ron kiss—EW! _

Harry pushed Ron away with a disgusted look on his face. He may have been transfigured and disguised as a very attractive female, but his best guy friend trying to kiss him was just too far. Way too far.

"Ron, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Ron pulled away, looking slightly hurt and confused. Staring at his feet he mumbled, "I, uh, I thought maybe you wouldn't mind me kissing you. I, uh, I really like you, Jillian."

Harry grimaced. _Why, why, why are you doing this to me, Dumbledore! Well this has certainly turned into one of the worst moments of my life. I can't let Ron know who I am, but now I have to pretend to hate him to get out of this. Although, after that kiss, that might not be too hard for a while._

"I'm sorry Ron, I just—I just don't feel the same way about you," Harry shifted his feet awkwardly and looked down, letting his new mane of blonde hair fall over his face.

Ron didn't say a word. He just stood there. Staring at Harry, with a look no one would really be able to decipher.

"Um, Ron? Are you going to be okay? I, uh, I'm, sorry?"

Ron snapped out of it and smiled painfully at Harry. "Oh, no, everything's fine, Jill. I'm glad I had the time to show you around the castle a bit. I have a class I have to get to now, I don't want to be late. Maybe I'll see you at dinner, okay?"

_You have GOT to be kidding me_, Harry thought. _Ron still thinks that Jill, erm, me, oh whatever, that somehow this girl-Harry will fall madly in love with him and she's only trying to be modest. Shaking this little crush is not going to your basic bread and butter._

Harry looked up and nodded towards Ron, hoping beyond all hope that this wouldn't convince him to do anything further.

"Great, Jill! I'll meet you in the Great Hall around 6 for dinner," Ron stated. And with that he was off, running back to the castle as fast as his gangly legs would take him.

_Oh this is just bloody fantastic. I don't even know where I'm supposed to be right now and I'm dealing with a best friend who doesn't know that I'm Harry Potter but would rather just snog with me. _

With thoughts full of annoyance and frustration, Harry tromped back to the castle, hoping to find someone that would know where he should be.

"Jill, where have you been! I've been looking up and down each corridor I could possibly find; we have transfiguration in 2 minutes."

Harry sighed with relief when he saw Ginny. Although she looked ready to kill him, er, Jill for wandering off.

"Ah, Ginny, I'm so sorry, I was just—"

"There's no time, we have to go!"

And once again, Harry was being whisked off by a Weasley. Fortunately for Harry's tastes, this was a Weasley he wouldn't mind running off with and snogging. _Hmm, I wonder if we just wandered up to the seventh floor and—no Harry! Ah, how are you supposed to pretend to be a girl who is not Harry Potter if all you can think about is kissing Ginny Weasley? Focus, Harry, focus._

It certainly was hard to focus through the next class. Harry just couldn't get his mind off of Ginny. She sat next to him in class and was nervously flipping her hair every few minutes. Normally another girl would have picked this up as a sure sign of worry from Ginny, but obviously Harry wasn't a girl. The smell of Ginny's sweet perfume was flooding Harry's senses and he could do nothing but breathe it in deeply. Oh what a lovely Transfiguration class it was, even if he didn't have a clue what the Professor was saying.

Just as Harry was drifting off into another lovely daydream about Ginny and frolicking out in a field on a bright sunny day with perfect weather, Ginny shook him.

"Jill, come on, let's go. Jill!" Ginny was shaking Harry slightly to get his attention.

"Wha? What, happened?" Harry rubbed his eyes, slowly realizing his daydream had been more of a deep sleep. He had his head down on the desk and now had a frazzle of hair all about his head.

"Oh, dear, you just fell asleep. I could hardly blame you, that was a pretty boring lecture."

"Why didn't you try to wake me up before?" Harry looked around nervously, trying to determine if anyone else noticed that he had fallen asleep.

"Oh, believe me I tried."

"You did?" Harry looked up at Ginny with surprise.

"You were sleeping pretty soundly, I tried to get you up, but after a while I figured you needed the sleep more than listening to the lecture. Don't worry, I took notes and you can copy them if you'd like," Ginny smiled brightly.

"Oh wow, thanks a lot Ginny. Um, do we have another class we have to get to?"

"Yes. We have double potions for the rest of the afternoon. I hope you have a good breakfast because we kind of don't have any time to eat something now. The potions class starts in about 10 minutes."

"Wow, we should get a move on if we have to head down to the dungeons!" Harry stood up in a hurry to pull together all of his books.

"What? Jill, what are you talking about?"

"Potions. It's in the dungeons, right?"

"It hasn't been in the dungeons this entire year. The new professor has decided to move his room upstairs with a view of the lake."

"New professor, but doesn't Professor Sn—ah, what?"

"Professor Snape? He taught potions for a while but now he's finally gotten the defense against the dark arts job that he always wanted. Wait how did you know that he taught potions?"

"I, uh, Ron told me?"

"It figures, well we better be headed out. Don't want to be too late."

Harry sighed with a little relief. Even though he hated potions and he'd almost gave away his disguise as Jillian Pearwood at least he wouldn't have to deal with a double potions class with Snape.

Potions passed by just as monotonously as any other normal boring class for Harry and before he knew it he was heading to the Great Hall for dinner. It was almost the end of quite a horrifying and unpleasant day, but at least it was almost over. Almost.

"Jill! Hey Jill, over here! Come sit over here!" Ron was waving frantically at him from the far end of the Gryffindor table.

Harry scurried quickly to the other end of the Hall, happy to note that most people we too absorbed in their own conversations to notice him.

"Hi Jill, I'm so glad that you decided to come eat with us," Ron beamed with absolute delight.

Hermione rolled her eyes with disgust at Ron's giddiness. "Hello, Jill, you must be starving after your afternoon, here have some roast beef."

Ron patted a spot on the bench right next to him and Harry reluctantly sat down. For a guy who had just been shot down by a girl earlier he was a bit too cheerful. Trying not to think much of it, Harry dove into the food. To be honest, he was absolutely starving.

Ron gawked openly as Harry, disguised as a girl, ate like a teenage boy.

"What?" Harry looked up at the shocked looks of both Ron and Hermione.

"Wow, you eat like a boy," Ron said in awe.

"I do not, I'm just hungry!" Harry hurriedly stated, hoping he could quit this whole act, he was hungry and he didn't want to worry about being ladylike.

Hermione put on a serious face and looked at Harry. She had the stern "Harry, there's something you need to fess up" to look about her.

"Jill?"

"Yeah?" Harry was already wary.

"I believe there's something important that you're not telling us. We need to talk."

_Oh no._

* * *

_Authors note: Look at that! I'm updating only a day later. I have some thoughts for continuing this story and making it more exciting, but if anyone has input about where you'd like me to go with this, then I would love to hear it._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Harry looked up shyly and Hermione, hoping beyond hope that a sweet, innocent expression would distract her from any sort of truth.

_Please don't shout in front of the entire Great Hall that I'm Harry Potter; that would surely ruin everything. Ugh, I'm sure Dumbledore will see just how poorly I did at keeping this whole thing a secret._

"Jill," Hermione called firmly, "perhaps it would be best if we talked elsewhere?"

Harry was puzzled, he wasn't sure if Hermione was going to confront him or pull him aside to give him a hug and a pat on the back.

"Uh, sure, I guess that would be fine."

Ron, glanced at Harry and then back at Hermione with a sad and tortured look on his face; he looked like a lot little puppy.

"But, why does Jill need to go? Can't you find time later to talk or whatever it is you girls do?" Ron whined.

Every girl within earshot rolled her eyes, boys really could act like big babies when it came to attractive girls.

"No, Ron, we can't. Just finish up your treacle tart and I'll meet up with you later to help you finish your Charms essay." Hermione smiled down at him sweetly. He could be acting a fool and Hermione would still help him through his blundering silliness.

Hermione grabbed Harry's delicate girl hand and led him out into the corridor and up the stairs. Harry attempted to act as much like a girl as possible in any last ditch effort to throw off Hermione seeing who he really was.

Hermione's heart was racing as she dashed up the stairs, Jill's hand in hers. She would have headed to the Gryffindor Tower but it didn't feel safe. So up they went more stairs to the astronomy tower, where on a cloudy night such as this no student would possible roam to that cold dark part of the castle.

_We're almost there, just climb a little further Hermione._

Once at the top of the stairs with the chilling wind blowing angrily around them, Hermione's gaze changed from inquiring to accusatory.

"Jill, you need to come clean now, before it gets you into trouble." Hermione sternly looked down at tiny, blonde-haired Harry.

"I, uh-I didn't know Dumbledore had said anything, it was supposed to be a secret. I'm so bad at this, I really didn't mean to screw up and be that obvious, is it really that obvious?" Harry glanced up hopelessly.

"Oh, Jill, is this really what you want to do? How could you have fallen into such things? And, not to offend, but you aren't particularly good at hiding information."

"Hiding? I thought that's exactly what I was doing. I mean, I gathered that you're clever Hermione and certainly you can see past this blonde girl where people such as Ron can't but I don't see how I have a choice, I was born into this job, this life." Harry looked dully at his hands, wishing that even these dreadfully different non-Harry hands meant he didn't have to live this life.

"Damn it, Jillian, you do not have to be part of that group, you can fight it! Do you know how many people have stood up to him? People have banned together for years to fight for what is right and you do not have to be alone in standing up to him!"

Harry jerked back in bewilderment, "What?"

_Sure Jillian, now is the time to deny everything, claim you have no idea who Lord Voldemort is and that you clearly aren't working for him attempting to find information on Harry Potter's location. Who's she playing at anyway? Claiming she doesn't know anything while apologizing for being so obvious._

"You have got to be kidding. There is no point trying to hide what business you have with the Dark Lord, you are clearly trying to befriend everyone Harry Potter knew to gain information about him." Hermione was beyond flustered at this point.

Harry promptly burst into a girlish giggle of outrage and promptly stopped upon hearing how unlike his usual self he sounded.

"Hermione, I am _not _any sort of member involved in the Dark Arts and nor do I plan to be, ever, in my life."

The true honesty on Harry's face confused Hermione entirely—this was nothing like what she expected.

"Then what? What could you possibly be? There is certainly something not right about you and I am not going to let you get away with any tom foolery in this school hurting people I care about. Don't you even think about trying to pull the wool over my eyes." Hermione's eyes smoldered with anger, she was not about to be told she was wrong, _how embarrassing._

Harry sighed and stared down at his feet, blonde locks falling into his eyes and covering his face. Almost nothing could be kept a secret from Hermione if she truly found out and having at least someone know what was happening might make the whole situation a little less dim.

"I—you have to promise that what I tell you, you won't tell anyone else, not a soul, no matter what happens. Could you do that?"

Hermione swallowed, perhaps she had bitten off more than she could chew. "I'll do my best Jill, whatever your secret may be."

"I am Harry Potter."

Hermione's expression was frozen, she didn't say a word and she certainly didn't move.

* * *

_Author's note: Well it's clear I have no time to write since my last chapter was published over a year ago. However, I am putting up chapters as I make them and hopefully more of the story will be forthcoming. I apologize for this particularly short chapter, but I am working on the next and this seemed like a logical chapter break. More to come soon!_


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